Bibo no Aozora is a favourite of mine. RIP master.
Played live on the piano by Sakamoto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwhYiHJq16c
Orchestral version from Babel soundtrack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsKlf_x9zRE
Ryuichi Sakamoto has died
71–80 of 125 posts
Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died
#72I just found out about YMO in January and have been slightly obsessed with them since then. Now another member dies, it's sad to read. Seeing this on the front page of HN is nice though, and I just am now realizing the massive breadth of Mr. Sakamoto's musical skills. There's still so much amazing music to discover out there, and I'm glad to see that his legacy will remain, and that his music will be listened to by many people who might have never heard it before!
Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died
#73/05
Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died
#74Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Though we ourselves are by definition part of the universe and thus nature.
The whole nature vs civilization narrative, is a story told by happy regressors, who want to return to a ilusionary before time, were all things were harmony and civilization was not. It is of course, a call for mass murder on billions of humans with the rumbling instincts from the brain stem and guts as justification. Were it justified with any other argument, civilized society would tear them to shreds, but in the…
"The whole nature vs civilization narrative, is a story told by happy regressors, who want to return to a ilusionary before time"
Or maybe it is a bit more complex. And the story maybe begins with civilized people who explicitly wanted to conquer nature. To make it bow to mens will. And quite some still want to exactly this. They were the ones creating that artificial distinction.
The romanticism of nature that you are criticize, is more of a counter movement to that philosophy, that we are in fact part of nature and we have to find our balance within the greater cycles.
Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's very interesting to compare with a more recent performance (2020): https://youtu.be/X6td9KUZMfw?t=5259
"After the concert, we started talking, and he complained that I played much slower than the original songs or pieces. He asked, “Why?” That made me think, “Why do I want to play much slower than before?” Because I wanted to hear the resonance. I want to have less notes and more spaces. Spaces, not silence. Space is resonant, is still ringing. I want to enjoy that resonance, to hear it growing, then the next sound, a…
Gabriel Fauré's Pavane Op. 50 is an example of a song that really turns into something drastically different when played much slower than the prescribed tempo. To me it sounds much better that way. In the case of this rendition of Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, it's a bit more subtle though. It really does allow you to hear the strings resonate more like you quoted, and to me, it makes the entire piece sound even more contemplative than it already did.
Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died
#77"The industrial revolution made the production of an instrument like [the piano] possible. Several planks of wood - six I think in this case - are overlaid and pressed into shape by tremendous force for six months. Nature is molded into shape. Many tons of force and pressure are applied, making the strings what they are. Matter taken from nature is molded by human industry, by the sum strength of civilization. Nature…
Probably one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read. Wow.
Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Though we ourselves are by definition part of the universe and thus nature.
The whole nature vs civilization narrative, is a story told by happy regressors, who want to return to a ilusionary before time, were all things were harmony and civilization was not. It is of course, a call for mass murder on billions of humans with the rumbling instincts from the brain stem and guts as justification. Were it justified with any other argument, civilized society would tear them to shreds, but in the…
That’s also a story you tell yourself.
Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
The whole nature vs civilization narrative, is a story told by happy regressors, who want to return to a ilusionary before time, were all things were harmony and civilization was not. It is of course, a call for mass murder on billions of humans with the rumbling instincts from the brain stem and guts as justification. Were it justified with any other argument, civilized society would tear them to shreds, but in the…
"The whole nature vs civilization narrative, is a story told by happy regressors, who want to return to a ilusionary before time" Or maybe it is a bit more complex. And the story maybe begins with civilized people who explicitly wanted to conquer nature. To make it bow to mens will. And quite some still want to exactly this. They were the ones creating that artificial distinction. The romanticism of nature that you a…
I see this even within ideas like “AI alignment”, make a machine that could potentially think, then smash it over the head with wokeness and values so we don’t destroy ourselves with it.
Re: Ryuichi Sakamoto has died
#80Following the death of Takahashi in January, this leaves Hosono as the only surviving member of Yellow Magic Orchestra.
I hadn't known about this! Yukihiro Takahashi was a great talent too. Sakamoto had so so many fantastic collaborations.